


Shotgun

by EezoDistraction



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: M/M, pre-Horizon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-29 17:25:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11445555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EezoDistraction/pseuds/EezoDistraction
Summary: Things get a little hot after a run-in with the geth.The idea for this popped into my head one morning at 4 AM and it practically wrote itself. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.





	Shotgun

"Organic or inorganic?"

"Inorganic."

"Check" Shepard said as he switched his ammo to armor piercing.

"Can't you just say geth? It'd be a lot more efficient" Garrus piped in as the three of them readied themselves to slice the door to the research lab that was overrun by the geth.

"Well, no" Kaidan replied. "That implies that the geth are the only form of inorganic life in the galaxy."

The door slid open with the successful hack, the first two geth taken down with headshots by Shepard and Garrus within a second, Kaidan readying his assault rifle to join in after turning away from the door panel.

"They're the only inorganic life I can recall that have shot at us lately" Garrus said as he threw a grenade at some enemy targets that were massed behind a stack of crates. "Unless you want to include that pissed-off krogan with the cybernetic arm outside Flux."

"How was I supposed to know that was his pet varren? The damn thing tried to bite my arm off. All I did was put it in a stasis field" Kaidan said as he emptied a volley into a geth that came around a corner.

"Prime at 9!" Shepard shouted as he spotted a geth prime to his left. "it's trying to flank us."

"On it" Kaidan replied, a mass of blue energy blasting from his right arm and striking the geth prime with a powerful reave. It caused the geth to stumble back for a second. That second long enough for the other two to blast it with head shots until it sparked and crumbled in a heap on the floor.

"Why are they called geth anyway?" Garrus pondered out loud to no one in particular. "Is that an acronym or something?" The first room cleared of enemies, they moved down the corridor.

"How about: Gods, everything went to hell?" Kaidan offered in his best Quarian voice imitation.

"No, that would be gewth. ...come to think of it, that is sort of how you say it when you've had too much to drink" Shepard smiled. As they came to the next room, three more geth quickly turned their weapons on the trio, Kaidan's barrier stopping anything from hitting their target.

"I do not sound like that! .... Do I?" Kaidan replied as the geth were downed with efficiency.

"Get every turian hiney?" Shepard offered. "They really really don't seem to like you Garrus". Another locked door awaited them at the other end of the room.

"What's a 'hiney'?" Garrus asked as Kaidan set about slicing the next door lock.

"Look it up on the extranet" Shepard replied. "I'm sure Kaidan here can direct you to some good sites with lots of information on that subject."

"Not helping, _sir"_ Kaidan replied, his face turning a  shade of red as the door panel let out a nasty sound when the first attempt was unsuccessful.

"That's ok Kaidan. You've become quite adept at saving my hiney on numerous occasions, so I can overlook your extranet fetishes" Shepard said as the door panel beeped and turned green. A blast of enemy fire greeted them as the door opened.

"Saving your ass is a full time job, Shepard. I don't have time for the extranet when I have you..." Kaidan's sentence was cut off after Garrus ignited an explosive container in the room that sent a  piece of shrapnel   flying  by his head which lodged itself in the wall beside him. Shepard turned to him and Kaidan could see the big grin on his face, even through the helmet Shepard was wearing. "...When I have you to look out for, .. I mean keep safe. " Kaidan tried to finish his sentence, flustered.

"If you two are finished saving the galaxy over there, I could use a little help here!" Garrus declared. The last geth left standing after the blast had closed the gap between  itself and Garus. One hand had already grabbed the end of Garrus' gun, the other reaching for Garrus' neck by the time Kaidan threw a stasis field around it. Shepard carefully aimed his weapon to take it out with three quick shots before the stasis field wore off.

"Now I'm going to have to recalibrate that gun" Garrus said solemnly.

Shepard walked up to Garrus and put a hand on his shoulder in consolation as he said "now let's see what was so important in this lab that it got those turian hiney killers so riled up."

"I swear Shepard, _you_ could use some calibrating some times." Garrus offered.

"Hmm. Appears to be experiments in theoretical physics on the interactions of mass effect fields and quantum entanglements"  Shepard said as he accessed the computer station  in the room they were in. "Let's gather all the data we can and then we can head back to the Mako for extraction."

"You're awfully calm for someone who had a stranger touch their gun" Kaidan commented to Garrus as the research data uploaded to their omni tools.

"I'm seething on the inside" Garrus replied.

As they headed back to the exit and before they donned their helmets, Kaidan shouted "I call shotgun!"

"That's an assault rifle, Alenko" Garrus said as he pointed at Kaidan't rifle. "Don't they teach these things in Alliance boot camp?"

"Hah, no" Kaidan laughed. "It's an idiom. It means I get to ride up front in the Mako."

"Sounds suspicious to me, like something a Vorcha would say" Garrus argued.

"Hey, he called it. Those are the rules" Shepard replied as they climbed into the Mako. "It's tradition."

Shepard and Garrus threw their helmets on the back seat after they were aboard the Mako. They had a twenty minute ride back to the extraction point where the Normandy would pick them up, but would probably be more like fifteen minutes the way Shepard drove.

"You'd probably be interested in the source of that idiom, Garrus" Kaidan offered after he had taken off his helmet and gloves and placed them on the floor of the Mako beside his seat. "Several centuries ago on Earth before engines were invented, they used to ride these things called stagecoaches between towns in the wild west. It took two people to run the thing. One to control the animals that pulled the coach and the other who sat next to the driver with a shotgun to watch out for trouble from bandits or wildlife. So to ride shotgun meant you sat next to the driver."

"I take it they didn't have thresher maws on Earth" Garrus replied. "Can't see much good a shotgun would do if you ran into one of those."

"Speaking of which, did they repair the cannon on this thing before we left?" Shepard asked.

"I'm pretty sure they did" Garrus said. "But if they didn't, Kaidan will have to ride your shotgun."

Kaidan just about choked on the water he was sipping as Garrus spoke, some of the water spilling out of his mouth and down the front of his armor.

Shepard snickered and glanced at Kaidan, but tried to contain his laughter for Kaidan's sake. "The expression is 'ride shotgun'. You don't want to add any other words or it can change the meaning" Shepard explained.

"I think I will just leave it alone. We don't want to have to explain how the Lieutenant choked to death on an idiom" Garrus replied.

"I appreciate that Garrus" Kaidan said.

The rest of the trip back to the extraction point was pretty uneventful. Kaidan had closed his eyes part way through when he felt a slight headache coming on. He had used quite a bit of biotics in a short time.

They arrived at the extraction point with no further issues, Garrus and Kaidan somewhat pleased the planet was not too hilly or rocky given Shepard took delight in finding the most perilous route . Once aboard the Normandy they prepared to exit the Mako. As the door opened, Garrus stood up first and quickly grabbed his gun and helmet.

"I'll be in the armory calibrating this gun. That geth better not have ruined it. It's my favorite gun" Garrus said as he left the Mako.

"All your guns are your favorite" Shepard shouted at his departing form.

Kaidan also stood up to leave but his right foot came down on his helmet  that was on the floor next to his seat, causing him to fall back and to his right towards the operator controls. Acting on instinct, Shepard threw his left arm around Kaidan's waist and pulled him towards his seat to stop his fall.

"I got ya" Shepard said as Kaidan landed facing sideways on Shepard's lap.

Kaidan turned his head to the right, their faces about eight inches apart as their eyes locked, dazzling blue and honey brown staring into a universe. Kaidan witnessed a small smile form on Shepard's face, warm enough to melt a glacier on Novaria, a presence that was at once both calm and electrifying. Before Kaidan could move, Shepard leaned in and kissed him on the lips, softly. As their lips touched, Kaidan's breath caught in his throat, his eyes opened wide.  Then Shepard leaned back, their eyes still locked, the two of them frozen in that moment for what seemed like an eternity but was a mere second or two.

 A jumble of thoughts and emotions ran through Kaidan's mind in that instant. The emotions won out as Kaidan threw his hands on both sides of Shepard's face and then kissed him back, hard and intense, hot breath and desire, tongue searching Shepard's lips, then mouth as his lips gave way. Kaidan's left hand moved to the back of Shepard's head and then down the short buzzcut of his hair to the back of his neck, pulse quickening as they continued to  kiss,  Shepard pulling them closer with his arms, Kaidan sensing the growing pressure under his armor in his groin. As his thoughts finally caught up with his actions, Kaidan suddenly pulled back,  closed his eyes and lowered his head. He was still for a couple seconds before he finally spoke.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that" Kaidan said quietly, almost a whisper.

"Well, I'm not" Shepard gently replied as he touched Kaidan's face with his right hand. "I've wanted to do that for a long time, .... and besides, I'm pretty sure I started it."

"We both know the regs on this sort of thing. You're my commanding officer and a good friend. I don't think I could live with myself if my actions caused you any harm, to your career or otherwise. I care about you Shepard, ...a lot, but I don't know how we could do this" Kaidan confessed.

"I've got some ideas how we could do this" Shepard giggled as he looked into Kaidan's eyes intensely.

Kaidan chuckled quietly and rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to be serious here" Kaidan said as he gave Shepard's left shoulder a shove.

Shepard let out a big sigh as he looked downward at nothing in particular, mind deep in thought. "I know. You've always been  the level headed one. You're good for me Alenko, a calm and sobering influence when I get too intense. Somehow you always manage to keep me grounded. I can't imagine what my life would be like without you."

Kaidan smiled as he lifted himself off Shepard's lap, his right hand grabbed and squeezed Shepard's right hand as he sat himself down in the seat beside him, still facing towards Shepard. "I guess I will have to call shotgun more often so you don't have to find out."

Shepard answered "I know this seems impossible now Kaidan, but we've done the impossible before. We just need to look for some way to make this work. I'm sure in time we can sort this out. In the meantime I will do my best to try and save you this seat."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read this.


End file.
